A chemical attack is allegedly launched in Damascus' suburbs, threatening to elicit a U.S. military response and possibly a wider regional war. Turkey backs the Americans, with Prime Minister Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul saying Bashar al-Assad must go.

Kurdish fighters in northern Syria establish their own administrative areas in the country while continuing to fight jihadist elements of the Free Syrian Army. Their autonomy may be a flashpoint should Turkey be forced to make a ground incursion into Syria.

Egypt's military-backed government continues to snipe back at the Turkish prime minister, who has emerged as its most vocal critic outside of Egypt.

The poor relations between Ankara and Cairo may be costing Turkey influence and money with regional partners who supported the military putsch that unseated Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.